1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed toward the locking means used to removably secure container covers to container bodies. More particularly, this invention is directed to an improvement of the container cover locking assembly disclosed in my patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,636 which is assigned to the assignee of this application.
2. Prior Art
Prior to the locking assembly disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,636, "Container Cover Locking Assembly", which is incorporated herein by reference, it had been the practice to manufacture a container cover comprising a planar member with a continuous peripheral skirt and a locking member depending from the underside of the planar member, the skirt and locking member being in a parallel spaced relation. A continuous bead was molded onto the side of the locking member facing the skirt. When the cover was assembled with a container body of the type having a cover mounting seat formed from the inwardly curled upper edge of the body's side walls, the continuous bead projected out from the locking member and extended below the curled mounting seat. The bead thereby inhibited upward motion of the cover relative to the container body. Typically, such a container cover and container body are generally, but not exclusively used for the packaging of solid particulate matter such as powered condiments.
Such locking members, as described above, are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,542,235; 3,370,757 and 3,675,812. These container covers are usually manufactured by an injection molding process which requires that the mold chamber of the locking member and bead be opened separately prior to the release of the cover from the mold. The complicated mold with movable chamber segments required to produce such a cover was eliminated by my container cover locking assembly which permits the use of a simplified mold design during manufacture.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved container cover locking assembly having additional rigidity without interfering with either the simplified mold design or the functioning of the locking lip.